“This is a fictitious question at this point of time. In our party, there is no dearth of capable leaders in UP,” Singh said when asked about his party's CM candidate for the next Assembly polls.
Singh said that he has already been given an assignment by the party. “Main khali nahi hun (I am not free),” he said. When persisted with the query about possibility of him being made the face of BJP in UP elections he said: "Yeh kalpnik prashna hai. Iska koi matlab nahi hai (This is a hypothetical question. It has no meaning).
With BJP’s national executive meet starting in Allahabad in a couple of days, speculations are rife that the party might enter the poll arena after projecting a senior leader as CM.
There is a belief that BJP tasted success in Assam because it had projected a CM candidate and therefore would replicate the formula in UP too. Many names have already started doing the rounds including Yogi Adityanath, Varuna Gandhi, Smriti Irani and even the Mayor of lucknow - Dinesh Sharma.
A section of the party leaders feel that if Rajnath Singh is made the CM candidate, other names will disappear automatically and there would not be any protest. The party however feels that this might antagonise the Brahmin support.
Singh tried to steer clear of this controversy when he said that though the matter has not been in consideration yet, but if the leadership gives him any responsibility he will shoulder it.
Rajnath Singh was Chief Minister of UP in 2001-02 and was also Education Minister in Kalyan Singh’s regime in the early 90's.